International Investment Bank (IIB), a globally focused investment bank based in Bahrain, today announced another set of very strong financial results for the first half of the year. For the six-month period ended 30 June 2006, the Bank’s net profit reached US$5.5 million, an increase of 160% over the same period last year, reflecting the continued growth of IIB’s business and its ability to effectively develop and offer a diverse range of compelling investment opportunities.
Total income almost doubled, reaching US$8.48 million for six-month period, compared with US$4.31 million in the first half of 2005. In addition, IIB saw considerable gains in its annualised return on capital, which rose to 25.7% p.a. versus 9.9% p.a. for the same period last year. Similarly, its annualised return on shareholders equity saw a significant increase, more than doubling to 20.6% p.a. for the first half of 2006 from 8.4% p.a. for the same period in 2005.
Commenting on the Bank’s financial results, Mr. Saeed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim, Chairman of IIB, said: “We are very pleased with the Bank’s continued strong performance during the first half of 2006. Our focus on developing and bringing to market a well-diversified investment offering continues to pay dividends, as evidenced by our enhanced financial results and the additional value we have been able to provide for the Bank’s shareholders and investors.”
During the first six months of 2006, IIB announced a number of compelling investments, including two real estate investments in Dubai’s emerging Business Bay District, as well as the launch of Ewaan, a new US$100 million real estate development company that aims to invest some US$533 million in the highly promising Saudi Arabian real estate market over the next three years. These come in addition to other recent investments by the Bank in Europe, Asia and the Middle East in sectors such as financial services, power generation, real estate and manufacturing.
“Investments such as these reflect the Bank’s unique approach to both creating value and opportunity. By effectively developing an offering of investments across multiple asset classes and geographic locations, we are able to help investors effectively leverage opportunities that exist in a number of well-performing sectors and markets. This not only serves to ensure optimum returns, but it simultaneously helps to minimize risk and exposure to any individual country or investment class. The strength of this strategy has not only been confirmed by our financial performance for the period, but it is also underscored by our growing GCC-wide investor base, the establishment of mutually beneficial partnerships with high caliber financial institutions and technical partners, and the oversubscription of our investments during the first half of 2006,” added Mr. Al Fahim.
In addition to reporting strong financial results and the conclusion of a number of highly successful transactions during the six-month period, IIB’s continued growth and success is further reflected in the Bank’s recently announced plans to increase its current paid-up capital of US$43 million in response to demand from both its current shareholders and from strategic investors who are keen to acquire an equity stake in IIB.
Mr. Aabed Al-Zeera, Chief Executive Office of IIB, said, “We are delighted with our ongoing ability to deliver solid results and value for all of our stakeholders. The confidence in the Bank, our strategy and our ability to attract experienced financial, accounting and engineering professionals, are both rewarding and a reflection of the success that we have been able to achieve to date. We are very satisfied with our financial results for the period, and we expect that we will continue to build on this strong performance throughout the remainder of the year and well beyond. It is particularly gratifying that we have been able to achieve this level of profitability during a period when regional stock markets have suffered sharp corrections. This is a clear vindication of the business model that IIB has put in place, which is founded principally on the generation of fee income from arranging and placing investments, as opposed to more speculative trading income and asset revaluations.”
“We have an excellent pipeline of business and world class partners with whom we will continue to work to maximize the value of our investments and the returns that we are able to provide to our investors. In addition, with our upcoming rights issue planned for the end of this year, we expect to even further enhance our position and our ability to identify and arrange a number of more sizeable transactions across diverse industry sectors,” concluded Mr. Al Zeera.
For full details on IIB’s financial results, please see the ‘Financial Section’ on IIB’s website at www.iib-bahrain.com
About International Investment Bank
International Investment Bank B.S.C. (IIB) was incorporated in Bahrain in October 2003 as an Islamic investment bank, with an authorised capital of US$200 million and a paid up capital of US$43 million. Its shareholders are high net worth individuals, business houses and institutions from the GCC states. The Bank undertakes three core business activities - private equity, real estate and asset management – and aims to offer its clients an internationally diversified range of investments generated through its network of strategic partnerships.
